For instance, in Dr. Ravitch’s article, “The Facts about the Achievement Gap,” she addressed the issue of wealth determining education stating, “Family income is now nearly as strong as parental education in predicting children’s achievement” (Ravitch 365). Neither the school systems nor the government can be held accountable for these issues. Dr. Ravitch makes an extremely important point involving this issue in her article, “The Facts about the Achievement Gap,” So long as our society is indifferent to poverty, so long as we are willing to look the other way rather than act vigorously to improve the conditions of families and communities, there will always be achievement gaps” (Ravitch 367). Therefore, the price of tuition is extremely improbable to ever be cheaper than it is now, unless society itself works harder to make a better school system for future…
In an article published by Inequality.org entitled “How America Is Failing It’s Schools” (23 June, 2015), Salvatore Babones argues that “the real crisis in American education is not the schools system,” but rather inequality. He argues this point by providing statistics that prove that highly-concentrated impoverished communities result in lower test scores that, consequently, make America trudge behind international standards; by blaming the public for denouncing the schools that helplessly educate poor children without many resources; and by reaffirming that failing schools are not the result of parents, teachers, or the students themselves, but of inequality. Babones’s purpose is to address and hopefully better America’s equality, eventually…
Thomas, Jacqueline R. "Achievement Gaps Linger between Students from Low-income Families and Their Peers." The Connecticut Mirror. N.p., 19 July 2012. Web. 15 Mar. 2013.…
In Savage Inequalities, Jonathan Kozol describes the conditions of several of America's public schools. Between 1988 and 1990, Kozol visited schools in approximately 30 neighborhoods and found that there was a wide disparity in the conditions between the schools in the poorest inner-city communities and schools in the wealthier suburban communities. How can there be such huge differences within the public school system of a country which claims to provide equal opportunity for all? It becomes obvious to Kozol that many poor children begin their young lives with an education that is far inferior to that of the children who grow up in wealthier communities. They are not given an equal opportunity from the start. He writes, "Denial of 'the means of competition' is perhaps the single most consistent outcome of the education offered to poor children in the schools of our large cities . . . " (p. 83). Although all children are required to attend school until age 16, there are major differences in schools and they appear to be drawn along lines of race and social class. Kozol examines how the unequal funding of schools relates to social class divisions, institutional and environmental racism, isolation and alienation of students and staff within poor schools, the physical decay of buildings, and the health conditions of students. All of these contribute to a psychological disarray of the young people who recognize that the ruling class views them as expendable and not worth investing its money or resources.…
Since the founding of the public school system, students of higher SES with more engaged parents have done better and gone on to greater success after school. Furthermore, certain individuals are just born with higher IQ rates, often giving them an edge in the academic environment. Conservative arguments against low SES, funding, and race are irrelevant to the educational argument as they simply refuse to acknowledge them as key variables in education. Ultimately, inequality in education will only be solved when commonsense reforms are made. Increased funding for struggling schools and a workforce that can better relate to students of various SES will lead to an improved perception of the U.S.’ Education System for those in poverty who generally feel irrelevant in it. Once minorities and the impoverished feel included in the system, greater levels of education will ensue resulting in lower levels of inequality and prolonged economic…
In his article titled: Why Labor Should Support Class-Based Affirmative Action Kahlenburg provides insight as to why this change in affirmative action is necessary. On the topic of why this view is a more progressive option today, Kahlenburg states, “Forty-five years later, Americans are still fighting over affirmative action, and the policy of racial preferences in higher education remains a fundamentally conservative practice. An ideal admissions system would consider merit in the broadest sense: not just grades and test scores and leadership, but all of those things in the context of what obstacles a student has had to overcome in life. Research suggests that today, those obstacles are primarily economic in nature. Anthony Carnevale at Georgetown University finds that a child growing up with socioeconomic disadvantages—in families where parents have little formal education, income, and wealth, in neighborhoods with concentrations of poverty and the like—is expected to score 399 points lower on the math and verbal sections of the SAT than the most socioeconomically advantaged children”…
Is it true that wealth has a determining factor on one's success? Is it simply easier for a person with a wealthy background to be more successful? In order to answer these questions, we can analyze children's academic success within different socioeconomic classes. KIPP Academy is a public charter school that is located the South Bronx, one of the poorest neighborhoods in New York City. What is different about KIPP is its success rate. In Malcom Gladwell's book, the Ouliers, he discusses KIPP's success, claiming that, "by the end of eighth grade, 84 percent of the students are preforming at or above their grade level" (parenthetical citation). KIPP is able to achieve this success through their rigor. Children that attend KIPP spend fifty to sixty percent more time learning than average public school students. KIPP children even spend an extra three months at school during the summer. This shows that with more time and opportunities, people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are able to reach high levels of academic success.…
The schools that are in wealthy communities are better than those that are in the poor communities because they have better teaching methods and resources (Anyon 172). In the essay “ From Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work, ” by Jean Anyon, he describes the difference between a “ working- class school” and an “ executive elite school”. The working-class school consists of parents that have blue-collar jobs such as, factory workers, pipe welders, and maintance workers (Anyon 170). These jobs do not require much skill other than following orders given by their employers. Students that attend this type of school are taught to follow the steps of procedures without any decision making because they are being tracked to follow the footsteps of their parents (Anyon 169). For example from the essay “ Class in America” by Gregory Mantsios, the profile of Cheryl Mitchell shows that she went to a large public school that was patrolled by security guards in Brooklyn, New York (Mantsois 309). She was taught basic skills and was conveyed the importance of doing everything under someone…
Education is a major component of social class since it has affect on both higher and lower social classes. Individuals from higher social classes are more likely to attend better schools and more likely to receive higher education. Educational inequality is one factor that perpetuates the class divide across generations. These social domains directly impacts on what and how much children learn. Children growing up in low-income neighborhoods, for example, are much more likely to experience constant stress which may have an effect on their minds, cognitive skills and abilities. “The disparities between rich and poor families and neighborhoods have increased, exacerbating the differences between schools and widening the gap in opportunities.” (Stephens and Marcus 5)…
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (often referred to as No Child Left Behind) was a landmark in education reform designed to improve student achievement and change the culture of America's schools. President George W. Bush described this law as the "cornerstone of my administration" (Department of Education). It allows low-income families, whose children traditionally have less academic opportunities, to move to private school or specialized charter schools via a school voucher. The act was expected to introduce high standards for education, the belief that all children, regardless of class, should have equal opportunities to learn, and accountability for failing school systems. However, the act…
Despite the vast majority of Americans that are educated though public school systems very successfully, many student of minority or low-income backgrounds have been “left behind.” The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), was the Bush administration’s attempt to help ensure that every public school student had a right to a solid education. A main goal was to have every school achieve higher scores on standardized testing each year and eventually by 2014 every student should score proficiently on their tests. Funding for NCLB was supposed to cover all the added costs that the schools would occur, but the funding ran out and schools are running out of resources to help their students.…
The purpose of education in American schools is to prepare children for a specific career, teaching students lifelong values, discipline, and to explore new ideas and to think independently; in other words, education helps to build good citizens. However, as argued by Jean Anyon (Anyon, J., 1980) and John Taylor Gatto (Gatto, J., 2003) in their articles, this is far from the truth. Jean Anyon confirms this by conducting an investigation of the education in different social classes while John Taylor Gatto uses his experience as a teacher. The two authors expressed similar opinions of the outcomes of American schools. Anyon and Gatto both found that in America, the method and extent to which students are educated is entirely based on their social class. In Anyon’s article, “From Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work,” (Anyon, 1980) she specifies that there is no question that schools in wealthy communities are better than those of poorer communities, and…
When it comes to the children of America’s education, every child depends upon the accountability of their family, educators and the government. When President George W. Bush was in office, he expressed that “Too many of our neediest children are being left behind”. President Bush proposed the legislation of No Child Left Behind Act of 2001(NCLB) on January 8, 2002, to improve the quality of life and education for our nation. The No Child Left Behind Act was one of the more favorable and focused policy problems, shortly after the September 11th, attack. As it is understood, the government strongly believed that it was a necessity to continue to improve education now more than ever. The policy process was a pluralistic approach along with…
Many of America’s large cities are segregated along ethnic lines still today. In these larger metropolitan cities economic opportunities are not as vast as they are in more affluent communities. The educational levels of the parents are often the best predictors of social and economical status in society. Many lower income parents are teenagers themselves with little high school education. This inequality has devastating effects on the tax paying citizens and their families who live in the segregated areas. Families are very important in the development of children and the school system plays a vital role in preparing children for future success in life. Children from low income communities often go to school hungry. Many school systems provide free breakfast for students whose families show financial need. Research shows that students who come from more financially stable families do better on tests and graduation…
Education has been part of history with the function to serve as an intrinsically valuable asset. The youth is constantly being told that education is the key to success. However, some are being “excluded from the pond” based on socioeconomic status and race. In College At Risk, Andrew Delbanco, notes that American higher education was built on the premise that human capital is widely distributed among social classes. Selective nonprofit colleges are failing to enroll significant numbers of students from low-income families. They are reinforcing the discrepancies of wealth and opportunity in American…